The Nature of Art and One's Role In It.

NOTES FROM AN ARTIST DATE

While on my artist date this week, I was reading Eden Maxwell's book, 'An Artist Empowered.'

I'd like to share a quote with you. He said, "Art for Art's sake should not be misunderstood. It is first art for the artist's sake to fulfil a dharma in transit and then its art on its own for the sole purpose of being."

That thought alone - 'for the sole purpose of being' - validates the existence of what I am striving for in creating an artwork. The concept that Art can exist for only the sake of itself is a liberating thought for the artist.

So often in the past, I have questioned the validity of being an artist. What purpose does art serve, I'm sure you know all those arguments people use against artists about getting a proper job and all the rest of it. What the heck, we use those arguments against ourselves even.

However, when you consider that a creative work of art has the right to exist in and of itself for the sake of its own beingness in the world - that is an entirely different ball game. It leads me to ask questions like,

• If I have a creative ability, who am I then to deny the allowing of that creative object to manifest within the world?

• If I don't bring into being the unique creative object that I alone am capable of making - what will the world be missing that it might have otherwise had?

• What richness am I denying the world through my refusal to create something? What painting, sculpture, film, dance, piece of music or book am I refusing to all into Being?

• If the gifts I have been given, and we all have them, remain unexplored for what ever reason, have I neglected to give the world a gift that it will now never have the chance to manifest in that form - ever again once I am gone?

Natural Forces